Week of 9.20-26

I would like to add two more questions to my list:

What is true?

How do we relate to what is true?

I think the first of these questions was so ingrained in everything I presupposed its existence however crucial it really is.

The second however is of much more value to the average human since again there exist a relationship between to entities. Regardless of what is really, absolutely true (and the real effects of these truths) we live in constructions inside the grand and unknown structure of truth. These constructions are all learned, observed and shared. It is like a neighborhood on the edge of town. The city limit runs like a gerrymandered district through the neighborhood oft times splitting buildings in half. Those constructions which fall inside the city limits are accurate understandings on the part of the human that are in fact characterized in real truth. Buildings that are split by the limit have elements of truth (these being more micro while the building itself is a macro element) but also continue into an area and understanding unsupported by truth, and like the later half of this building those outside the limits complete are unbased as well.

The importance of seeking answer to this second question shapes a person and communities life in profound ways. If a person accepts something is true that does not necessarily mean this truth rules their life. However a person could accept something that is not true and it will command the way they live. This question is most important because it comes after a person/community has already discovered what is true.

The problem is that the discovery of truth is not so simple. The first question is a decision everyone makes, and the results can be quite different. This is the instance where beliefs about anything come together and collide. This is the locus of dispute. This is where the neighborhood can become unsafe based on how people answer the question "Who are we?" because if you are no one to me then your life is of little value and potentially in danger. Why we are here is informed by what is true. Our experience is also informed by truth and particularly how we relate to it.

Side note: the connection of all of these question makes me feel that these are essential to the overall quest. I am not surprised that I overlooked two such basic and important features of our existence, and will continue to search for others. In thinking I came across a thought and tried to categorize it in the extant questions of the time and found that it spanned a few but elements were also untouched. In fashioning the two questions I wanted to harness not just the ideological aspect of what is truth but provide a separate and specific opportunity to question how that truth is understood and expressed.

Week of 9.12-19

Who am I is determined by a variety of forces and movements both internal and external. A part of identity would have to come from ones created status. The creation of an individual is an interesting and incredibly intricate process. The results of creation are the evidences here used to draw to light the pieces (and thus the whole) of the individual.

In creation one is created by someone/thing. In this the first component of the individual is discovered for the individual is more than a random element. This is not to be understood at this point in the 'purpose-giving' vein but merely for understanding that there were a specific and limited number of materials available to create the individual and then that by a process this individual was made to live and function within a certain capacity. The specificity, limitation and exactness of the process demonstrate the existence of genuine individuality as a group (homo sapien) for in order to have another type of individual one must alter the materials used, how much is used as well as the process by which the proceeding come to form the individual.

These specific initiation requirements lead to understanding that the individual need not be alone. The variation within each category allow for an all but infinite number of combination which speaks to the real presence of an individual with a similar group, yet each does not stand as a free floating entity. This fundamental understanding of existence provides an avenue of questions as one, having identified these base requirements for the individual, can pursue further these topics and become better acquainted with what it means to be an individual.

Week of 9.7-11

I am no one with out you.
You are no one without me.
I can all but say without each other none of us exists.
We both have this same relationship with the world that is around us. Without each none exist.

Our experience, regardless of what it is, is highly interactive. The relationships that necessitate our being are such that create and shape the very definition of our experience. This dependence is extraordinary in the face of our American individualist mindset.

Our values are shaped by necessity and want/preference. However for the most part I as an individual do not shape my values. I most generally outsource these decisions in the form of my physical body's craving for my needs and the general public, trend, fashion, comfort and the like in determining my wants or preferences.

Culture seems to be the determinant in what values an individual will exalt. Most values however have at their core the interaction as mentioned above (world-individual-other-world).

The commonality of this 'interactive' thread that runs through this series of worldview questions is undoubtedly important and will require further and specific development in the coming posts.